Mid Season First Round Projection

Originally posted by buck:
You might be right about Barkley, but I think he will be one of the four quarterbacks drafted in the first round.

In my opinion, Werner is somewhat overrated. He got 6.5 of his 12.5 tackles for a loss and 5 of his 8 sacks against Savannah St (1-8) and Murray St (4-5). Werner has a good upside; he is still learning the game. Actually, I could see him easily drop into the 2nd round.

If you have watched him play all year, it isn't just hype and being overrated. He has given every team trouble to the point that they hold him on almost every play. The ACC refs are so terrible that people are calling for all of the Refs to be fired and replaced.

With that said, I don't really have an issue with where you have him. I think he is mid 1st to late 1st. I highly doubt he will drop out of the 1st.

Originally posted by buck:
You might be right about Barkley, but I think he will be one of the four quarterbacks drafted in the first round.

In my opinion, Werner is somewhat overrated. He got 6.5 of his 12.5 tackles for a loss and 5 of his 8 sacks against Savannah St (1-8) and Murray St (4-5). Werner has a good upside; he is still learning the game. Actually, I could see him easily drop into the 2nd round.

If you have watched him play all year, it isn't just hype and being overrated. He has given every team trouble to the point that they hold him on almost every play. The ACC refs are so terrible that people are calling for all of the Refs to be fired and replaced.

With that said, I don't really have an issue with where you have him. I think he is mid 1st to late 1st. I highly doubt he will drop out of the 1st.

Unless things turn around quickly, this could be one of the weakest drafts I can recall in my twenty plus years of analyzing talent entering the NFL. If this draft has twenty first round grades, I would be shocked.

I can tell Minter is dinged up right now. His explosiveness is shot. Hopefully, a healthy offseason can give him a shot to show what an outstanding prospect he might be at the next level.

Not sure there is a better player in the draft over Luke Joeckel. Could end up going as early as number two overall. Barkley's height measurable and campus workout (looking at arm strength) is going to be monsterous. Could push him up or down the board.

If Jarvis Jones comes out, he is a top 10 pick. His explosiveness is pretty spectacular. Just needs to keep his weight up and head on straight.

MD,

Other than the OTs are there any strong positions in this draft at the top? No QB to get excited about. Some nice WRs, but definitely no game changers (no AJ Greens, CJ's). Not too excited about the CBs. The safety class has nice depth, but noone jumps out as an Eric Berry or Earl Thomas like prospect. The Utah DT and ND ILB are the only 2 great prospects I can think of. Do you agree, or am I missing someone?

NT might be moving up the list if we think of RJF as a DE. Also, depends on how highly we feel of Ian Williams. Other than that the thinking hasn't changed much. I'd tag Goldson so DE, CB, OLB, C are possible 1st round needs. Then 2nd and the 2 3rds would be a combo of those not taken in the 1st or possibly a big tall physical WR, 2nd TE or 3rd T.

Possible needs include DE, CB, OLB, NT, C, 3rd T, 2nd TE, WR and late in the draft Backup ILB, Backup S and power RB (all 3 would have to play ST)

I don't think a running back has a shot of making the team if he doesn't play special teams. I also can't really see us drafting a running back either. Too many other holes that need to be filled and it would be with guys who would actually play. I think we definitely go NT and DE early. I figure that Sopoaga is gone, but if he takes the discount that many are thinking he will be offered, then we are in good shape to draft a NT early and groom him to be the a future starter and move RJF to DE. It's make it or break it time in 2013 for Tufuaku, Williams, and Dobbs. I'd like for us to draft another OLB to provide more of a pass rushing threat. This will definitely be needed if we do lose Goldson. No safety or could sign as a FA is going to come in and immediately fill his shows, so building up the pass rush could help out our secondary a lot. We'll need to take a tackle (or sign one as a FA for cheap) to back up Staley and Davis.

We need to draft another TE that is a true receiving threat (I love Delanie Walker, but he is not a receiving threat). Having a guy to be more of the security blanket to compliment to homerun hitter in Vernon Davis could help make our passing attack more potent. There is also a possibility that we may already have a guy that can play that role on this team in Bruce Miller. I honestly think he could be a 30-40 catch a year type of FB. Finally if we do decide to let Ted Ginn walk and replace his role as a returner with one of the guys we already have, then there will be an open spot at receiver. Next year I figure we will have Manningham, Crabtree, Jenkins, and Williams. A big body receiver that we could develop would round out that group nicely. The only problem is that we'd most likely have to take a guy like that earlier. I don't think too many NFL caliber receivers taller than 6'3 fall past the 3rd round.

So far that covers NT, DE, TE, WR, and T. After that, we are just drafting for more depth. With all of our picks and the small chance that most of those guys have of making the roster, I can see us doing some maneuvering to get more picks in the top three rounds. As it stands, we are going to have over 12 draft picks that will be rookies or redshirt rookies lol (basically our 2012 draft class). Lot of young talent will be competing for spots on a good team with few openings. Perhaps some desperate team comes calling and wants to trade a first in 2014 and some extra picks for our first this year. There are so many possibilities when you actually have a good team.

Originally posted by Gore_21:
NT might be moving up the list if we think of RJF as a DE. Also, depends on how highly we feel of Ian Williams. Other than that the thinking hasn't changed much. I'd tag Goldson so DE, CB, OLB, C are possible 1st round needs. Then 2nd and the 2 3rds would be a combo of those not taken in the 1st or possibly a big tall physical WR, 2nd TE or 3rd T.

Possible needs include DE, CB, OLB, NT, C, 3rd T, 2nd TE, WR and late in the draft Backup ILB, Backup S and power RB (all 3 would have to play ST)

With Brooks and Aldon Smith on the team, I find it hard to think we would draft an OLB in the first round.

I agree with your point about RJF. He has played at both NT and DE.

Maybe this is a year to just take the best available player without much regards to immediate need.

Originally posted by buck:
With Brooks and Aldon Smith on the team, I find it hard to think we would draft an OLB in the first round.

I agree with your point about RJF. He has played at both NT and DE.

Maybe this is a year to just take the best available player without much regards to immediate need.

Yeah, probably unlikely we go OLB in the 1st... but maybe 2nd or 3rd if Haralson is gone to save money. I think he will be back though otherwise we could have reached an injury settlement and cut him. Still you can't have enough good pass rushers and Aldon will cost an arm and a leg in a few years although we would probably franchise him for the 2015 season so it will be a while before he is a free agent. Never hurts to have a good backup; Haralson will have to be replaced either this year or after next year when he is a FA.

Kenny Vaccaro would be a great pick to sit behind Goldson for a year, then he could take over for Whitner or Goldson. I also would like Phillip Thomas from Fresno State as a player who could take over for Whitner in his second year. Maybe we should draft both of them?

On Richardson, I would like to get a super athletic d-line guy IF he has a good head on his shoulders. Now would be a good time to get a prospect to learn from Tomsula and some very good veteran players who lead by example.

i really love sheldon richardson because he's so talented and he could play with aldon once more but it really scares me how undiscipline he can be. barrett jones could other option and might cut goodwin and get better player in the process.

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